I love using my pretty flower pens, especially at work or school where everyone can admire them! But I’ve never been impressed with how everyone else makes them…they place the bulky flower stem alongside the pen & then wrap the pen & flower together. Yes this is easier, but it doesn’t look or feel as nice. Instead I remove the top of the pen & place the flower stem inside the pen.
Here are my instructions.
Materials: hot glue gun, floral tape, ink pen (I used Bic), wire cutters, a silk flower (flower stem must be small enough to fit in the barrel of the pen.)
1. Plug in hot glue gun.
2. Remove top of ink pen with wire cutters: place the blade of the wire cutters along the spot where the pen barrel & pen top meet. Apply pressure & pull with the cutters until it comes off. Don’t worry if your pen looks a little dented; the floral tape will hide this.
3. Cut the flower with your wire cutters. The cut should be made so that when you place the flower in the pen barrel, it goes almost to the ink well, leaving just a bit of space between. Make sure the flower is fits correctly in the barrel before moving onto the next step.
3. Put a little hot glue in the pen barrel, mostly along the interior edges, and place the flower into the barrel. Make sure not to cover the ink well with glue (a few pens I’ve made ceased to write after being drowned in glue, and I’m assuming there’s a science to why the ink well is left uncovered normally). Wait for the glue to cool.
4. Wrap the pen with floral tape. Floral tape actually isn’t sticky until you work with it, warming it with your fingers & stretching it gently as you wrap it. So, begin wrapping the tape at the bottom of the pen (closest to the tip), gently stretching the tape as you go. Overlap the previous row as you ascend. When you get to the top, give yourself about an inch & cut the tape. Continue wrapping (and gently pulling) to press this last bit into place. FYI, the floral tape will remain slightly tacky for a few uses.
5. You’re finished! You can store your pretty flower in a vase, or I’ve seen them in a cup filled with coffee beans or stones.
Hello! I made the flower pen, thank you so much for the tutorial! HOwever, how do I keep the tape from being so sticky. It’s hard to write with. Any suggestions?
My tape was “tacky” on the outside of the pen but subsided after a few uses. I did a search & found a suggestion to use baby powder on the pen to get rid of the stickiness. Here’s the link & other floral tape suggestions: http://handmadedetroit.com/2007/10/25/working-with-floral-tape/
This is the best flower pen tutorial on the web! I also dislike the bulky look of most flower pens and I’m glad to have come across your instructions!
Very clear instructions. Your flower is beautiful. Thanks for the information concerning getting rid of the stikiness. Have a great day!
Trying out this tutorial right now for a baby shower tomorrow! I’m so glad that I didn’t throw away the floral tape after I had so much trouble with it last time…I ended up recovering the pens all over again with hot glue and ribbon to cover the stickiness.
Looking forward to seeing how this batch turns out! Thanks for the tutorial!